DVD reviews: Akira Blu-ray

There’s an entire generation whose introduction to anime – if not Japanese culture altogether – was by way of a video store copy of Akira. Regardless of its presentation on fuggy, fleabitten VHS, its effect was shattering.

Written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of the original manga on which the anime is based, Akira is set in the Tokyo of 2019, a city ravaged by what appears to be a nuclear explosion. A gang of teenage bikers headed by Kaneda and his best friend Tetsuo run into a weird-looking kid during a street fight. The military whisks the child away, along with Tetsuo for good measure. It’s not long before an unsettling change takes place in Tetsuo, as he takes on strange new psychic powers that appear to be destroying him. The influence of a god-like being named Akira comes into play, an influence that threatens Neo-Tokyo with apocalypse.

At the time, Akira broke new ground – nobody expected a cartoon to engage with such menacing material, particularly given the special resonance themes of atomic devastation have in Japan.

Akira wasn’t just ambitious in its subject matter, its production values were without precedent, and at US$10m it set the record for the most expensive animation ever made. The film is the high-water mark for hand-drawn animation, using over 160,000 cells with more than 300 colours.

In short, Akira is a total classic.

The new Blu-ray edition, which is only now being issued locally, was restored and remastered for the 20^th anniversary of the film’s release. Although there was a 1080p theatrical master made in 2001, the rationale was that technology had advanced enough to warrant a new version.

It has. Improvement in sound quality is instantly recognisable. It’s almost like you’d never really heard the score written by composer Shoji Yamashiro, who was on board in the creation of the lossless 192kHz/24-bit audio track.

Image quality doesn’t have the same revelatory effect but it’s still quite an achievement. The restoration team struck a new interpositive from the original negative to create a digital version, which is optimised both for wear and tear, along with problems with original film. The colour cast has been thoroughly corrected throughout, without sacrificing the details and shades that are a feature of the hand-painted original. It’s also the crispest, clearest way you’ve ever seen Akira.

For those who haven’t yet come across Akira, and for everyone else who just wants to watch it again, this edition will be a treat.

by Tim Grey

Madman

SOUND:5

VISION: 4.5

MOVIE: 5